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April 18, 2015 Southside Hologram was on her way to visit the Howards, a young couple in their mid-twenties with a little daughter named Emma. Emma is five and a little scrapper; a soon-to-be kindergartener who has started manifesting low-level flight and telekinesis. The Howards, young parents with no reported superhuman activity in the family, are nervous about sending their little girl off to Nicholson, even though they were the ones who contacted Nicholson in the first place. The school has a team of counselors and volunteer staff to help with this kind of thing, but one thing that has a proven track record is sending out a parent volunteer to talk to the parents so they do the right thing and get their little kid the education they need. The Howards' home was a small bungalow in the Southside, a neighborhood that has begun to decline in the years since Paige first lived in Freedom City. But this little cul-de-sac is still doing well, a comfortable community of middle-class young families right at the beginning of their lives. Stepping outside, the most ominous thing Paige could see as she looked up at the little red house was a LOST DOG picture stapled to the nearest utility pole. - It had been the Scarab's last case. Well, second-to-last. In the summer of 1978, violent dreams of bloody carnage had woken Alexander Rhodes night after night, scenes of gore far too real to be imagined but with no real way to trace them to a source. He'd been in the process of developing a psionic resonator that would have allowed him to find the source of the mysterious visions, but then the Scions of Sobek had come to Freedom City, and Alexander Rhodes had never done anything else. The Scarab started seeing the visions again last week. Not the same visions; these were scenes of nature, red in tooth and claw, the brutal killing of animals by something fast and predatory - but the psychic 'color' of the visions was just the same. This time the technology does exist to help the Scarab's powers, though, and so it is that within a few days she's been able to trace the source of the visions to one particular neighborhood in the Southside, a middle-class cul-de-sac that's avoided the rising poverty in the neighborhood. - Wail's phone rang yesterday, going straight to the machine with Keith busy in class. The voice on the other end was rough and male, nobody he immediately recognized. "Wail. Come to the Southside tomorrow morning." He rattled off an address. "We need help." Click - and from a cell line that didn't pick up again when Lamar called it back.

Lynn Epstein's West End apartment. Monday, April 13th, 2015. 3:05am "Fuhh!" Lynn abruptly woke up in bed, her heart racing; the sheets were tightly wrapped around her and the pillow was on the floor. She sat up and blinked her eyes, the darkened bedroom as clear as day to her faerie eyes. Two of her cats were curled up on the bed, clearly upset at being disturbed by her rude outburst, so she reached out and scratched between their ears with her claws, just the lightest touch. "Sorry, babies; Mommy had another nightmare." It had been one of the bad ones; she and Bill were at the ranch, celebrating the twin's birthday. Her parents were there, along with Erik and Ellie, and the kids were enjoying pony rides. Then Viktor arrived fashionably late, laughing with an armload of packages, and everyone was excited to open their presents, but only Lynn could see the long black spider legs poking through wrapping paper, and Ruthie eagerly reached out to grab her gift- The ageless changeling went into the bathroom, ran the sink and splashed her face with water. She filled a cup with water and drank it, more out of habit than any real thirst. Lynn contemplated her face in the mirror, the perfect flawless mask, and sighed. "Ya need help, kid; better go get some!" - - - ArcheTech's Hanover facility, 9:22 am that same day Lynn didn't feel like flying; at times like this, the mindless jostle of public transportation was somehow more appropriate, and she could just veg out in her seat like everybody else. It took a lot longer, but eventually she made it to Hanover and what was left of Dok's legacy; she realized belatedly that she'd never stepped in this building before, and wasn't sure what to expect. She'd opted for a sort of 'office casual' look, with a tweed jacket over a simple cotton blouse, dark Capri pants and brown ankle boots. Reaching under her blouse, she found the familiar ring on its thong; she pulled it out, gave it a quick kiss, then tucked it away as she headed for the main entrance. Once inside, she made a beeline for the security desk, and offered the security guard on duty a dazzling but nervous smile. "Hi! I'm not sure who I should talk to; I'm sorry, I didn't make an appointment." She leaned in closer. "My name's Lynn Epstein, and I was hoping to talk to someone about Viktor...Archeville?"

Thursday April 16, 2015 The Cline House Port Regal Don't make it sound like a creepy sex thing - don't make it sound like a creepy sex thing. Fast-Forward reminded himself as he finished tapping in the number for Starlight's drop phone, having exchanged contact information with the heroine after they'd finished their unpleasant encounter with the city's drug trade. Normally he was much more confident about phone conversations, but he'd picked up on some hints in conversing with the young woman that her situation was pretty dire - and he was familiar enough with poverty and desperation to know how the 'optics' (to use a phrase their PR guy Tony liked to use) might look shady to someone who didn't know him well. With his kids playing on the Wii U downstairs and his wife 'listening' to the phone call while she read a book on her iPad across the bedroom, it was easy to forget just how far up he'd come. Until he thought about the look in the eyes of kids like Starlight - and remembered it on his own face. When Starlight picked up, Richard said in a friendly voice, "Hello, Starlight - it's Richard Cline. Are you busy?"

The Waterfront, Downtown Freedom 10:30 am 13th April 2015 Even in a city like Freedom, with thousands of amazing thing happening every day, it was still possible to come across thing that surprised. When the bloody animal corpse was found animal control was called but as soon as they saw what it was they called in the Police, who apart from establishing a cordon weren’t quite sure what to do with the thing. What they needed was a hero as the creature wasn’t really native to the city and hadn’t been native to the place for around 65 million years...

Sitting outside the Main Entrance of the school was an old oak tree that being outside a super for super kids had seen many and varied things. Despite it all it was still quite healthy, with a little TLC from various plant controllers down the years, and with it position was a popular place to meet newcomers. It was also one of Blodeuwedds favorite places to go to gather her thoughts and if she wished few could find her hidden in the branches. Today however she wasn’t concealed as she had the honour of meeting a few new arrivals to the school.

The Weizenstein family were as old as Freedom City itself coming here almost as the first foundations were laid down. Over this time they had managed to climb to the top by having fingers in many of the cities major businesses, with a knack for picking the right investment at the right time. Some even suggested that they used magic, often black, to gain their fortune. Then in the 1980’s the family seemed to fade from public life after a private tragedy only now with the return to public life with the return of Carl Weizenstein from one of the top universitie. Currently he was everywhere over the television and newspapers, and even talked about on the Internet, whilst some it was about new business and charity works most of the buzz was about his ghost. It started with a off handed comment about the family ghost but had snowballed to the point that the former Weizenstein was now in the background of most of the photographs of Carl. The poor ghost Samuel wasn’t questioned on his thoughts and apparently couldn’t even leave the stately Weizenstein manor.

April 4th, 2015 The door to the convenience store swung open with a chime from the bells hung above it and the resounding impact of the boot smashing into it. "Hey! I need a hand over here!" In her customary crimson and black, Jill O'Cure burst into the store in enough of a hurry to almost knock a rack of corn chips over, a boy of about ten or eleven unconscious in her arms. The heroine set the child down of the counter in front of the shocked cashier, unceremoniously sweeping a display of novelty butane lighters to the ground. "He got hit with some sort of fever," she explained, losing patience as the teenager behind the counter stared at her blankly, mouth agape. "Hey! Pay attention! I've got him stable and he shouldn't be contagious but he needs water and an ambulance, got it?" "Ah, r-right, I'll call for one right now, right," the cashier stammered, snapping her mouth shut over braces and reaching for the yellowing corded phone with chipped nails. She took a second look at Jill and worked up the courage to blurt, "Is this, like... a super thing?" The masked EMT-B paused for a moment, her shoulders dropping slightly in her dark red jacket. "...not sure. Maybe. This is the fifth case I've run into tonight and the symptoms are getting worse." She looked down at the unconscious boy for a moment before heading back for the door. "I need to get back out there. Take care of him, alright?" The teenager nodded more resolutely this time and Jill was out the door again in a sprint.

WYRM HQ, Midtown July 6th The World Youth Rescue Movement's HQ didn't really have a high tech training room unlike Claremont. It was noticeably simpler and more bare-bone. Still, it was better than nothing and it got the job done, allowing Cho and the others to train. Currently Cho was under much stress, having to fend off attack after attack from multiple angles. The teenager crossed her arms over her face as a jet of hot flames erupted. She barely had the time to recover from that when a black blurr began assailing her with sharp claws. With only a brief moment to strike, Cho landed a punch on the second assailant, sending it flying, only to leave herself exposed to another jet of flame. -- As Cho was currently sparring with Magmatic and Racer Konchu, on the other side of the reinforced glass, Saboteur and Brainclay observed. "She wasn't kidding when she asked if this was simply a question of filling some gap in the team's abilities." Saboteur commented. "She's actually managing to hold her own against both Magmatic and Racer. ' 'Holding her own' is somewhat innacurate. She is clearly overall weaker than the two of them at once. This is hardly what I would call a fair fight. Not to mention she is very close to collapsing. Her endurance and resillence are formidable but not enough in this situation.' The telepath 'replied', still blankly staring ahead, not even making eye contact with his interlocutor. There wasn't a single hint of facial expression from the adrogynous alien. Continuing to observe the sparring match, which was less and less in Cho's favor as she kept being wailed on non stop by the other two, Saboteur added: "Still, the initial reports and assesments prove to be entirely accurate. Her abilities are quite impressive. I wouldn't say they are anything legendary, there have been plenty of individual with powers of this kind across superpowered history, but she's still something. Especially since she's clearly untrained and tapping into a mere fragment of her powers." 'Mental blocks are apparently quite common for individuals of this kind. Their feeble, simplistic terran minds are unable to rationalize the amount of power they posses. Their emotions, especially fear and doubt cloud their mind and install blocks. These blocks are what prevent them from fully accessing their full capabilities. A similar phenomena exist within telepaths.' "Yes what about her history and the psychological profile?" Saboteur was suddenly reminded, having asked Brainclay to review it. 'Subject is of mixed ancestry. Biological progenitor unit you call a father was apparently what you would called korean-japanese. It appears that the bequeating a japanese name to the child would be strange, but that is the only apparently unusual detail to her history beyond her unusual ancestry. Said father was killed in a random act of violence, which may act as a potential motivator for fighting what she may consider 'evil'. Otherwise her famillial history is completely and utterly mundane and insignificant. As for Cho, she appears to be rather mundane herself.' Coldly stated the alien. "Define mundane, will you?" He asked back to the alien. The telepath continued to coldly state everything, still not making any eye contact: 'She is not particularly notable. She does not stand out from the crowd of countless other humans of her age range and gender. The subject has her own unique...quirks...but those are nothing out of the ordinary. Her most notable trait is that she is actually quite the underachiever; it is this very trait which prevents her standing out from the rest as she is remarkably lazy and unwilling to develop any talent she might naturally posess.' "If you ask me she seems rather determined so that IS something. Still, I guess that was part of the whole idea, getting someone that is...ah, I suppose 'normal' is the right term." Said Saboteur, continuing his analytical observation of Cho's fight, down to her fighting style. Or rather lack of fighting style, as the case was. It was only at Claremont that she ever received any amount of what might be called training. Mostly it was just her flailling until she hit something. "Her balance and reflexes are good, but hardly good enough to suffice in a fight like this. She's poor at guarding her sides and..." He muttered to himself, analyzing the battle. 'I would hardly defined someone so infused with entropy as 'normal'. Such being is an anomaly. It is, therefore, anormal.' The telepath added, as it walked out of the observation room. -- "Okay, phew whew okay...yeah...j-just a minute." Cho garbled out, collapsing from the repeated blows from Magmatic and Racer Konchu. She had done everything to hold her own against the two in a brawl but raw determination wasn't enough to keep her ticking and fighting forever. Grunting, the teenager tried to get back on her leg after receiving blows that would have broken an ordinary human in half. "I-I think we're good for today. I hope you guys got, well, whatever information you wanted out of that." "Oh I'm sure Miles got what he wanted out of this Choey! He's good at picking up other's weakness. Here, take my hand I'll get you up!" Said the energetic magmin, offering a large, thick hand made of hardened crystals to her sparring partner.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015 Freedom City, New Jersey, Earth Morning Archetech's North American headquarters saw more than the average amount of parahuman weirdness in a work week, even more than most places in Freedom City. Being the home of highly advanced sciences, the regular working space of superheroes, and the epicenter of a world-wide attack meant that a place started to attract a certain type of attention, and the security team had developed procedures for all sorts of situations. Like when a falling star landed at the top of the building. Corona glowed gold and red and perpetually angry, floating half a foot above the helipad. She glared as the security guards spilled out of the rooftop access and surrounded her. No one was pointing weapons at each other yet, but if looks could kill there would murder. Corona crossed her armored arms and rotated slowly in place, finding the one guard who looked the most in charge of his emotions. He was an older gentlemen, with a bushy mustache and an Archetech cap on his head; Corona inclined her head infinitesimally towards him. "I need to speak with your genius," she said, her voice amplified through the suit's speakers. "I have a trade for her."

Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan 29th March 2015, Hanami With the Cherry blossom in full bloom it seemed that the whole of Tokyo was in the park enjoying good food and good company. The corner of the park you find yourself is a huge public part put on by Sanshain KinpÅge. Sunshine Buttercup was an idoru an sophisticated AI, that maybe fully aware, that wrote record and sung her own rather bouncy J-Pop. Right now she was chatting to and signing "autographs" with a bunch of excited fans, soon she was due to perform to the delight of many gathered in the area. The sun was shining people was happy and the food and entertain were flowing frely, what could possibly go wrong?

USS Theodore Roosevelt, Red Sea 0600 EET 6th April 2015 (0000 ET) Even though Henry was officially an AEGIS liaison the Army still occasionally sent him all over the world to help them deal with “problemâ€. Generally it was a couple of hour in a transport to support troops dealing with some mercenary Supervillain before the same boring journey back home. This time it was different Henry was whisked from the base in one of the armies Aurora hypersonic transports and whisked halfway across the world in just over an hour to land on the Roosevelt. Disembarking from the craft he was met straight away by a Middle Eastern looking woman in Marine fatigues. “Pleased to meet you Captain Thompson I’m Lieutenant Freedom Jones, USMC.†she gave a sharp salute them offered her hand “I’ll be your pilot and liaison for this mission, I’m afraid I’m going to have to brief you on the way.†She gesture to a waiting Osprey apparently prepped and already ready to take flight.

April 16, 2015 As the young woman bustled into the Black Petal Cafe, flustered and wringing her hands, she bounced up on the tips of her toes, straining to see past the line up and over the counter. Her sea green eyes weren't scanning the board for the current list of seasonal lattes or the featured roast but rather darting from face to face until she spotted the barista for whom she was searching. Actually hopping up and down she waved urgently to the dark haired man with the sleeve tattoos, her long chestnut hair hanging in the air a little too long as she kept her lips pressed tightly together as though refraining from shouting his name would somehow make her less conspicuous.

GM AEGIS Stealth Fighter En Route to Hong Kong Sunday, February 22nd, 2015 6:05 PM On October 10th 2014 Agent Henry Hand, an ex-special forces officer turned AEGIS agent, betrayed the organization. Exposure to Daka crystals had turned hand into a madman. That was only the start of AEGIS' troubles. Hand's capture did nothing to prevent various exotic stolen artifacts that the man had acquired from entering the black market. It was the heroine Terrifica who made the first great strides in following chatter of some sort of secret underground auction occurring in Hong Kong. AEGIS efforts to collaborate with local law enforcements had been stymied behind walls of political red tape. Despite the high level of autonomy Hong Kong managed, the city state had to let the MSS (Ministry of State Security: China's premier intelligence and security agency) take point. The MSS agent in charge of the proceedings only relented in allowing AEGIS to conduct their operation in Chinese soil if AEGIS agreed to bring Terrifica in as an outside third party. Apparently impressed with her investigative efforts. So it was that AEGIS sent a stealth transport plane to Hong Kong in the hopes of recovering some of their stolen artifacts. The US Government also saw the need in keeping its ducks in line. Wasting absolutely no time in sending their special liaison to AEGIS on the flight. Special Agent Lazenby stood in the middle of the craft holding a small laser pointer as he readied himself to brief the small four man party on board, consisting of Terrifica, Captain Henry Thompson, Special Agent Yves Zermeño, and Agent Alyssa Wild (an Israeli woman who spent most of the flight cleaning the parts to a sniper rifle). "If there are no questions may I begin the briefing?" Agent Lazenby openly questioned.

Saturday, March 28th, 2015 Millennium Mall, Freedom City, New Jersey Afternoon The Millennium Mall was a huge place, filled with shops of every description, and packed with roving crowds of shoppers, families, and couples. Ami Rask was indistinguishable in the crowd, and it was only partly because of her height. In the crowd she was just another young, pretty girl, holding big bags and with a hot credit card in her purse. She had been shopping for most of the morning; with the weather turning, it was time for her to update her spring wardrobe. It’s not that she didn’t have anything from the last couple years. It was just that she didn’t have anything new. Ami dropped into a heavy leather chair, one of the sets placed strategically to help exhausted shoppers rest and recuperate. As she breathed, she watched the crowds passing around her. A woman eight or ten years older than she was, pushing a stroller with a sleeping baby in it. An older man, with gray in his hair, walking hand in hand with a bald man. A harried man carrying his toddler in a baby bjorn, while texting. The displays of affection made her smile as she rested, a window into the lives of normal people. More people came by and she watched them, growing more pensive. A young couple, his arm around her waist, window-shopping. An older pair, with kids running around their feet. It made the young girl acutely aware that she was shopping, all alone, for herself.

West End, Freedom City, New Jersey Monday, March 30, 2015; 10:21 PM The West End had its share of restaurants, bars and other night spots. But on a Monday night, the crowds were starting to get a bit thin at this time of night, the streets and sidewalks less crowded. The more secluded and dark streets could prove to be an opportunity for some of the cities criminals, able to operate in the dark and away from too many prying eyes. Of course, any environment that attracted criminals also tended to attract some of the cities many costumed heroes. While most had made their way to the safety and seclusion of home, those costumed crime fighters took to the dark rooftops. Tonight was no different, as four separate heroes had all made their individual ways into a section of the West End, moving by rooftop, or through dark alleys. Thus far, the night had been rather uneventful, looking to possibly be one of those quiet nights where nothing took place. But that changed suddenly, as the faint sound of a police siren sounded in the distance. In moments, a dark sedan sped around a corner of an intersection, almost swerving into another car as it made a wide turn. Just a short distance behind, a police cruiser whipped around the corner as well, fast in pursuit of the sedan. And the vehicles raced down the next block, a man leaned out the passenger window of the sedan and a gunshot rang through the air as he took a shot at the police car….

April 3, 2015 9PM It's springtime in Sapporo and the tourists have departed. The winter season that brings so much snow to this city of nearly two million has ended, bringing an end to the snow sculptures and snow festivals, and the cool moist spring has settled in comfortably here on the shores of Ishikari Bay. The big news in the city today is the recent beginning of baseball season - the famous Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters are playing a special exhibition game with the visiting Freedom City Comets, who themselves are on their way back to Freedom City tomorrow to begin their North American season with a game against Detroit. The 40,000 seats in the Sapporo Dome are packed with local fans and American "super-fans" from Freedom City who have flown in for the special game, many of them following the usual Freedom City pattern of wearing exaggerated superhero costumes alongside the usual Comets merch. It's a big day, and much to the delight of the home crowd, the Fighters are pulling ahead of their American antagonists. (The team's rivalry is old and arcane, as the best sports rivalries are, dating back to the early days of the Comets franchise in the 1950s when they clashed with the visiting Nippon-Ham Fighters in the West Coast of the US) Outside the rest of the city is bustling along quietly, though the cool, wet fog that's settled over most of the town tonight has kept many of the usual late-Friday-night crowd home or at least inside their favored establishments. Fishing is big here and you can walk into a local restaurant to find freshly-caught sea urchin, salmon, or crab on the menu, or perhaps the famous local jingisukan lamb barbecue. From the taller buildings in town you can see the mountains rising off to the east. Hokkaido has been 'tamed' since the late 19th century when American experts helped the Japanese government exterminate much of the local wildlife during the Meiji period, but at night when the Moon rises over the distant mountains of the island, glimpses of the old Hokkaido can be seen in the forest beyond. Inside the stadium, it's the seventh-inning stretch; a good time to wander up to the concession stand and get a beer or some soup curry, or maybe just sit in the stands and curse that bastard Kataoka and his murderous right arm. Errors by his own team have meant that the Nippon-Ham Fighters pitcher hasn't quite thrown a perfect game - but he's come close! The Comets have kept the Fighters dancing too, but the score is 18-9, and the Comets are going to have to pull off a miracle to win this one!

It was getting late, nearly midnight as Wander leapt into the West End, landing atop a bank building to take in the lay of the land. Warmer weather was keeping people out later, which in turn invited more bad-deed-doers, but the night had been fairly quiet. She'd busted a teenage pickpocket at half past eight, saved a dog from traffic on the Pramas Bridge around nine-fifteen and served as a human jack for a motorist with a flat tire just after eleven. Street superheroing, a very glamorous life, she thought to herself with a small laugh. She'd take it over fighting off apocalypses any day. She was familiar with the West End but didn't come out here that often, just because there were so many superheroes who called this place home. Next to Bayview, it was the most super-dense population she knew of in the city. But the Interceptors were justifiably distracted these days, and she'd heard rumors that someone might be trying to cause them trouble, so she'd cruised through the area on her last few patrols. She wasn't technically responsible for Mara, Ellie and their family when she wasn't working, but they were still her friends. Never hurt to be a little cautious.

Silberman's Books. Friday, March 27th, 2015. 4:06pm Friday afternoons were always dead, especially when it was cold out. There were a few regulars, mostly elderly Jewish men who liked to enjoy coffee and a danish while they played backgammon or chess with one of the store's weathered sets. A young mother pushed her stroller around as she perused the Mystery section, her toddler banging his sippy cup against the bookshelves as they passed. Store owner Lynn Epstein was sitting behind the counter on a tall stool, reading a novel by Scott Westerfeld; in front of her stood her grandfather's old cash register 'Jezebel', restored by Detective Colby's magic, though now a fairly morbid 'Skello Kitty' figurine was glued on top of it as a sort of staff in-joke. Beside her, Gretchen McDaniels leaned on the counter between the register and the espresso machine, resting her chin on her folded arms. Neither seemed to be doing much this lazy afternoon, though yet another sippy cup assault caused Gretchen to finally frown and stand up. "I'm gonna kill that kid." Lynn responded without looking up from her book. "No you're not; that's infanticide, it's a horrible crime." "Well can I at least steal his sippy cup?" "Nope. Gretchen returned to resting her chin, looking comically grumpy. "Fine; I won't commit any horrible crimes." "Thank you!" The bell over the front door jingled.

It had started out as a normal quiet day Dancia had been given a straightforward assignment. An interview with a young woman, Sabrina Locke, who had become an overnight success in her business. She should have noticed that the woman had been giving her strange looks when she wasn't looking. The interview was over, it was mostly a fluff piece so it didn't take long, Sabrina suddenly asked Dancia a question. "Would you like me to show you how I achieved my success?" Alarm bells should have rung right there and then, but Dancia smelt a story and that foolishly overcame her common sense.

Stesha had a problem. Actually, Stesha had a lot of problems, some of which would work themselves out with time, some of which she would have to entrust to other people, and some of which she would deal with herself. But at the moment she had two problems she didn't know what to do with, and there was really only one solution. She needed a lawyer. It wasn't as though Stesha had never used a lawyer before. She'd gone to one of the League's attorneys just a few months ago to help her with the messy and unpleasant business that was even the simplest and most drama-free of divorces. She'd tried to do it herself, but had needed the help when it turned out that the court had problems figuring out jurisdiction when neither of the involved parties made their primary home on the planet. The briskly efficient League attorney had done some kind of legal wizardry involving domicile and precedent and degrees of contact, and it had all worked out in the end, but she kind of never wanted to see that lawyer again, friendly and professional though he'd been. She needed another lawyer. A little asking around in the hero community netted her a good possibility. Lucy Harker was not exactly an average lawyer, being a superhero on the side, but she had her own office on the West End and was open for business. Stesha hoped that, being a superhero and all, she'd be flexible enough to help deal with her two unusual problems, or at least point her in the right direction. She called and made an appointment for Fleur de Joie, then set herself to gathering documents. Lots of documents.

Planet Ja-Gorr, Lor Colony, Edge of Lor Space Earth Year: 2015 Ja-Gorr could be best described as an arid planet. Not quite a desert planet, as it wasn't all sand everywhere but definately an arid and inhospitable planet. Discovered by the Lor decades ago it mostly languished in obscurity, a backwater, until the events of the Communion excursion brought new blood to the planet; people fleeing the mechanical horrors. Unfortunately, the peace of Ja-Gorr is about to be shattered, as recent excavations have begun uncovering priceless artifacts and attracted the attention of those who would desire them. __ Starhunter-Class Za'akis Ship, Toh'krev Hovering above the planet, the Starhunter-class ship, a multi-purpose battleship and a mainstay in any Za'akis fleet waited silently. Inside, however, it wasn't so silent. Far from it, in fact. Dark and cramped, with a lighting set for Za'akis eyes, the ship was filled the sound of rowdy Za'akis warriors. On the bridge, it's captain was observing the planet surface, half in contemplation half in chewing on some meat. The door to the bridge slid open and a figure walked in. "I assume by now you've sent your men on the planet, Voltark?" asked the figure, dressed in somber robes, unlike the armor of the others. The figure was carriying a staff, like a badge of office. Of course inside the staff were weapons but that was to be expected from the warrior race; even bureaucrats and officials were armed to kill. "It's CAPTAIN Voltark, need I remind you!" Roared the captain, pivoting on his chair. "Or do you wish to challenge my position?" He said, snarling and showing rows of yellowed teeth. The bridge staff glanced at them briefly, before turning back to monitor their stations. It wasn't worth their attention. Unless a fight actually occured, that is. "No of course not." Politely replied the official, smirking. "I have no intent in becoming a captain. I like my current work just fine." He chuckled, fully aware that he didn't need to yell or roar to make himself look feared. Not every confrontation had to be resolved by a brutal display of force. There were other means to assert dominance. "Yes, they're down on the planet. I'm expecting a report soon, we'll see if what they've found is what we need. Then, maybe...maybe we will reform the Empire." __ Unknown Ship in orbit of Ja-Gorr Unknown to the Za'akis, a second ship was in orbit, hidden behind one of Ja-Gorr's three moons It's crew was composed of gangly tan-and-grey vaguely insectoid aliens with quills on their back. However, their leader was humanoid, possibly a Lor offshoot. Touching a metallic orb, the alien entered a trance. "Everything is proceeding well, my mistress. We have encountered some- y-yes, I know, any trouble will be dealt with I- Y-yes, no. No. No need to worry, my Queen, they will not get in our way." The alien said, with great fear in his voice. __ Orbit of Ja-Gorr Finally, a third ship arrived in orbit of Ja-Gorr: Corona's ship. The Outback Overwatch Patrol & Survey had sent her there to investigate information that unknown artifacts had been recovered on the border world and colony of Ja-Gorr. According to the initial report, they appear to be incredibly ancient terraforming devices, something people are quite eager to get their hands on following the events of the Incursion. Once there, her ship's sensor immediately picked up a ship in orbit, belonging to a race sometimes associated with the Stellar Khanate, the Za'akis.

A Blind Alley, West End, Freedom CIty 7:30 pm 20th March 2015 Freedom City was for many a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. Yes the near by New York had it impressive buildings but only Freedom offered so many superheroes. Despite this the city still offered dangers for those who didn’t have their wits about them. The well dressed woman had obviously taken a wrong turn whilst exploring one of the lesser known area of Freedom City. She hadn’t realised it yet but she’d started walking down an alley closed at one end. The two muggers who followed in behind her did however know this and was obviously taking advantage of the situation. Luckily for the woman the were heroes here even in this area of Freedom City.

March 20, 2015 It wasn't that Erik Espadas was expecting trouble, not really, but he subscribed to the idea that it paid to be the one carrying the biggest stick. Or to be friends with the people carrying the biggest sticks, anyway. When they'd worked out the rough schedule for Min's pregnancy nobody had been particularly surprised to find her due date landed on the vernal equinox. After the unexpected 'visit' by his extended family in the House of Swords for the birth of his first daughter, though, a whole different sort of planning had seemed in order this time around, just to be safe. Stesha had offered to host them on Sanctuary, of course, but even with one or two super-powered healers on hand the idea of being in a whole different reality from the closest modern hospital made Erik a little nervous. If he were being completely honest with himself there was also the fact that he wanted his second child to be born in Freedom City's West End just as he had. If was their home and he wasn't about to let anyone chase them out. That said, even if they weren't going to an earth goddess, the earth goddess could still come to them. A good section of the first floor of the Espadas School of Self-Defense and Swordsmanship (!) was covered in toys where Stesha was keeping watch over Eden and Amaryllis laughing and playing, chatting amiably with Gina. Nearby Mara and Liz were engaged in an animated discussion of tweaks and improvements to the building's security over a folding table covered in computer equipment including a laptop displaying Vince's neon-green suit wearing avatar. They'd sent Chris out to get food mostly because it seemed like the only way to keep him from standing watch on the top of the building in full costume while Steve had insisted on standing guard, gargoyle like, outside of the second floor apartment where Ellie was making her sister-in-law comfortable. Yolanda had taken up a position across from Steve, solemnly following the taciturn bald man's example. It was, all told, a small army of love and support. Not that that stopped Erik himself from pacing back and forth with nervous energy, his gaze jumping back and forth between the stairs, the clock and Eden, hands clasped behind his back.

April 15, 2015 Liberty Park After over a year in captivity, Tarva had quietly gone into action. She'd taken advantage of a driving rainstorm, one of the heaviest to hit this city in the year she'd lived there, and a rare mystical confluence produced by Seven's battle with Malador in order to slip away from the Dutemps Building's both physical and spiritual security. With a heavy rain jacket on and her face down, she had gone unnoticed by the many proles who walked the wide, nearly empty streets of this city, long enough for her to carefully make her way to her intended destination. She'd seen Liberty Park on a map of Freedom City and decided to make it her own - and as she approached, thanks to the lateness of the hour and the recent driving rains, she was delighted to find the park almost entirely empty. She stripped off her shoes and left them heedlessly by a walking path near the entrance, staring in wide-eyed fascination at the green beauty of the place. There was no smell of poison in the air, no whisper of monsters in the trees - and when she stepped into the grass, the soft blades were damp and cool against her bare feet. It was exactly what she'd wanted. A cool breeze came up, blowing softly against her skin, and in her soul she wanted to weep for the sheer beauty of the park by night. Keeping her hood up against the rain, she walked towards a nearby pond, staring into the water and thinking with fascination about the creatures who must live there! Settling down by the water, she turned and stared east, knowing the sun would be rising in just another hour or so. Plenty of time for her to see the new dawn, the first she had seen in...in an age, and then flee back to the tower like the rat she had become, away from the awesome beauty of this world's star. It was all perfect - except for one thing. She shot a glare up at the artificial lights scattered through the park and muttered a quick spell as the rain continued to die down, smiling as black globes appeared to cover all the lights she could see. Now the park was in the darkness it deserved, despite the glow of the city all around it, and from the curses and exclamations her sensitive hearing could just pick up from around the park, she would not be molested while she waited. She was alone; as she deserved. Taking out her diary, she began to write, letting her sensitive soul spring to glorious umbral life in the words of darkness and regret that lay beneath her skin like her black-tainted blood. The words flowed from her pen like lightning from a bottle - until suddenly she heard the too-heavy footfalls behind her. She leaped to her feet and screamed in horror at the sight of the oncoming Omegadrone, her fear dimmed not at all by the fact that it was not yet wearing its armor. "F-freedrone!" she exclaimed as she shoved her diary behind her back, terror at the fire burning in those cold eyes. "W-what do you want?" Steve's cold voice curdled into a growl as he stared at the Annihilist witch. "I wanted to be free of you, Tarva the Black, but look at you now! Wandering the streets of this city outside of your cage? Casting your spells? Writing who knows what horrible plans?" He turned anger into purpose, turned the urge to grab her by the neck into a surge forward that caught her by the wrist. "Be grateful that it is an ally who holds you captive, woman, or I would surely call the Freedom League and make some suggestions to your confinement." He pulled, and she pulled back, but his strength was far greater than hers. "Mercy! Please, mercy!" Tarva called, "Please, I only wanted to-" Steve came within an inch, a bare inch, of driving his fist against her face - and the thought must have shown on his, because she fell instantly silent. "You beg me for mercy. You beg me. For mercy." Armor erupted across his skin as holo-emitters came to life, transforming him into the armored figure of Caradoc, Tarva briefly crying out in alarm as armor shifted against her skin where his hand gripped her wrist. He didn't speak; instead he began picking her up so that he could fly her directly to the Dutemps Building. The sooner this was done, the better.

April 1, 2015 3 AM Outside of Wittmund, Germany Alone, Dimitri Peshkov stood in the shadow of history. The Allies of Freedom monument, erected in 1953, loomed behind him, commemorating the heroic sacrifice of Lady Celtic, Renard Rouge, and Spitfire Jones on one terrible night seventy years previously. It did not depict the last surviving member of that tragically crushed superhero team. In 1953, no one in West Germany had wanted to praise "The Ice Commissar" as he had once been known. Comrade Frost lit a cigarette, its glow bright in the darkness against his pale skin and hood, and stared up at the monument, pacing back and forth beneath its shadow, heedless of the municipal airfield nearby. The airfield that had once been the airstrip that Wilhelm Kantor had escaped from - after his cold-blooded murder of the finest men and women Dimitri Peshkov had ever known. Silently, he remembered the past - and opened a thermos of piping-hot vodka laced with human blood. April 2, 1945 Outside Königsberg, East Prussia "WHERE ARE THEY!?" Comrade Frost grabbed the big SS officer by the throat and began to squeeze, feeling blood and flesh begin to freeze to ice beneath his cold grasp, mist billowing from his eyes and mouth as his eyes burned red and his fangs bulged horribly. "WHERE ARE KANTOR AND NACHT-KREIGER!" He released his grasp and let the man babble, pleas for mercy, apologies, telling the angry ice controller he had no idea where Kantor had gone, he was just a low-level Thule Society member, he really knew. Frost grabbed the man's head and squeezed until his pleas stopped, then turned to his Red Army escorts, who were looking with a mixture of fear and awe at the Soviet champion. "The rest are as useless. None of them know where Kantor has gone." He pointed to the white-faced SS prisoners and then said, "Sh...no, even better. Strip them of their weapons and give them to those Jews they had made their test subjects. See what _they_ make of them." - April 1, 2015 3 AM Outside Wittmund, Germany The orders had come in from the usual sources, for all that the orders themselves were unusual. Titan had been dispatched to guard the Allies of Freedom monument in Wittmund, Germany on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of their deaths. There were evidently concerns about vandalism, concerns that seemed justified as he approached the monument by night (as per his orders) and found a man shouting at it in Russian, waving around a cigarette in one hand and what looked like a hip flask in the other. But why had he been pulled out of the United States to come here, halfway around the world, even to guard an important historical treasure. "<You would have given them a soldier's death, yes? Told me that we were defined by how we treated our enemies and that barbarism was no solution to barbarism.>" He waved in the general direction of the statue of Renard Rouge, his movements violent and his voice full of grief. "<But you were a hero, Amelie, a hero to the end. And I am, and ever shall be...FROST!>" Frost stomped his foot. "<A creature with a heart so cold!>" Titan knew this man. Comrade Frost; a Soviet hero and a brave man, a self-described 'ice monster' who had gone from an enemy agent to a loyal, trustworthy ally who was like his "least favorite brother." But he also knew he had never seen him before in his life.